SHEBOYGAN FALLS - The Terry J. Kohler Aviation Cybersecurity Symposium on Wednesday pulled together pilots, lawyers and other aviation professionals to create awareness and training around issues of aviation safety and cyber-security.

“Terry would have absolutely loved and endorsed what is happening here at the Aviation Heritage Center this morning,” Jon Helminiak, former executive director of the Aviation Heritage Center who is writing a biography on Terry Kohler, said. “Terry was an entrepreneur, he was a forward-thinking business man, and one of his many hats – and believe me Terry had many passions – was technology, computers, security, and the types of subject matter we are discussing this morning.”

Jeff Kohler, a nephew of the late Terry Kohler, began the symposium, in part, to honor his uncle's lifelong commitment to aviation and technology innovation.

Terry Kohler, who died in September last year, was an entrepreneur with a passion for using technology as a tool to create new industries and markets, but was a man who was aware of the security implications surrounding technology, Jeff Kohler said.

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Terry Kohler speaks after accepting the Sheboygan County Economic Driver of the Year Award during an SCEDC meeting Tuesday November 12, 2013 at the Ostoff in Elkhart Lake.(Photo: Gary C. Klein/Sheboygan Press Media, Gary C. Klein/Sheboygan Press Media)

“The reason we are doing this in Terry’s name is because he was a huge advocate of technology transfer and innovation in technology,” Jeff Kohler said. “Cybersecurity is an emerging, adaptive element of technology that we want to equip pilots to confront and successfully mitigate.”

The lectures Wednesday provided insight into how organizations can protect aircraft from cyber attacks and to proactively manage safety risks as today’s airplanes become more automated.

“People who fly highly automated aircraft have occasional experiences where some component of their airplane fails or misbehaves, usually it’s software driven, and some people have airplanes that are more automated than others,” Jeff Kohler said. "Our goal is to try and create a unified policy for aviation cyber security that protects everyone."

The goal is to turn the symposium into an annual event that draws aviation professionals to Sheboygan.

The symposium Wednesday covered topics ranging from legal implications of cyber security related to terrorism, a pilots perspective to in-flight hacking and contingency planning and safety measures a pilot needs to be prepared for in the event of a computer malfunction.

Jeff Kohler said he hopes the ongoing lecture series will eventually attract an aerospace manufacturer to Sheboygan County.

"We want an event that creates a community of corporate partners that will eventually sponsor new aviation safety and security technologies,” Jeff Kohler said. “My major goal is to bring a major aerospace manufacturer to Sheboygan County by doing that.”

Emanuel Gross, University of Haifa, Israel, is a renowned international professor of law, distinguished military judge and expert on terrorism and the law. He spoke Wednesday at the symposium about current issues in aviation cybersecurity from an international law perspective.(Photo: Phillip Bock / USA TODAY NETWORK - Wisconsin)